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ArtEZ Fashion Masters 2017 at the Atelier Neérlandais in Paris

ArtEZ Fashion Masters 2017 at the Atelier Neérlandais in Paris

On thursday March 2, the 18th generation of the fashion design master of ArtEZ University of the Arts Arnhem presented itself at Paris Fashion Week at the Atelier Néerlandais. Graduates Klaudia Stavreva and Lotte van Dijk presented part of their final collections, These presentations can be seen at the Atelier Neérlandais, which will be open to the public, until Sunday, March 5.

Lotte van Dijk. Fashion design master of ArtEZ University of the Arts Arnhem

Lotte van Dijk. Fashion design master of ArtEZ University of the Arts Arnhem

Lotte van Dijk. Fashion design master of ArtEZ University of the Arts Arnhem

Lotte van Dijk. Fashion design master of ArtEZ University of the Arts Arnhem

The images above were made during the ‘Meet & Greet’ collection presentation. Yours truly, Mimi Berlin, was part of the expert-team, together with Mattia Akkermans, Hector Castro and Esther Oomen, who got invited to discuss, comment and review the collections made by second-year MA Fashion Design students Klaudia Stavreva and Lotte van Dijk. They will finalize and present this work in June 2017.

Lotte van Dijk created a slightly dingy nook in the luxurious Atelier Neérlandais. in which she showed her models one by one, her outfits gave a ‘Calamity Jane gone Glamazon’ vibe to us. Not only because Lotte used guns as props and styled her ourfits with western boots but also because of the ‘casualness’ the designs; oversized, slip-on, layered and raw edged. Lotte van Dijk generaly “based her collection on the way painters depict textiles” and in particular the “brushstrokes of Marlene Dumas”. Lotte painted directly on the clothes herself or translated her paintings in, for instance, embroidery and jaquards.

Klaudia Stavreva shared a personal, intimate story with us. To her, family and her (Eastern Europe) roots are important. That became clear in the performance-like presentation of her BOSSTVRVA collection. Accompanied by a video of Klaudia and her sister, dressed up as men and dancing around in a livingroom (that’s what they used to do when they were little) the Stavreva sisters dressed the models on stage. That way we could also see the make and the reverse side of the designs, like, for example: bandeau tops with shiny embellishments hidden on the inside. The Sworn Virgins of Albania were also clearly an inspiration source for Stavreva, hence the manly silhouettes and the, seemingly, oversized clothes.

As always we advice you to go see for yourself if you are interested. You can do that today and tomorrow (3 – 5 March 2017) from 9:30 – 18:00, at the Atelier Néerlandais (121, Rue de Lille, 75007 Paris)

Klaudia Stavreva (Macedonia) presented her collection BOSSTVRVA. Inspired by the Sworn Virgins of Albania – women who assume the life and rights of a man, vowing not to marry or have children – she proposed a new, inverted way of power dressing – both sensual and strong. Modified garments, shapes and embellishments

Lotte van Dijk (the Netherlands) based her collection on the way painters depict textiles. The bold and striking brushstrokes of Marlene Dumas inspired van Dijk to start her process by painting large images of garments including floral dresses, denim pieces, lace gowns and army coats. These paintings were used to create her bold silhouettes, painted on top of the final garments or translated into jacquards. Oversized, easy shapes in combinations of jacquards with plastic, canvas or tarpaulin are manipulated by belts, gathering towards the body, or by folding the big darts outside. Lotte is nominated for Hyeres 2017.

The Arnhem Masters in Fashion aspires to educate fashion professionals who from a highly personal fascination, critically interrogate their own unique handwriting as fashion makers in relationship to the current design discourse to seek out both their relevance and their additional value through research and design. With Arnhem Fashion being founded in 1953, the cultural heritage is enormous. Being positioned outside the fashion establishment, each student is offered a wide open space to explore and develop his or her own refreshing idiosyncrasy. ” (copy/paste press realease schoondenboer)